NEWS AND NOTES
Fresno St ended Boise St¡¦s 31 game WAC winning streak in convincing fashion. FSU had a 513-294 yard edge and held BSU to its lowest point total since the ¡¥91 opener. Pat Hill called it the biggest home game he¡¦s had in his 9 years...
UAB led UCF 21-10 but imploded with four 4Q TO¡¦s and UCF rallied for a 27-21 win despite being outgained 430-358. In a wild 48-43 game Vanderbilt¡¦s shot at a bowl went out the window as they trailed Kentucky 31-3 in the 2Q with Rafael Little having 198 yards rushing, 86 yards receiving and also 88 yards on 2 PR¡¦s. VU did score on their final 4 drives of the game including a TD with 2:09 left but missed the 2 pt conversion and UK rec¡¦d the onside kick and ran out the clock in a shootout that delivered our 4¡¦ƒ¸ College Totals GOY...
Oklahoma St pulled a stunner vs. #13 ranked Texas Tech but there was nothing fluky about their win. They rushed for 303 yards on the Red Raiders and led the game 17-0. After TT had tied it at 17 USU took over with 6:43 left and drove 80 yards in 13 plays getting the game winning TD with :23 left...
Georgia led Auburn 27-21 when Auburn got a 15 yard fumble return for a TD with 5:32 left. UGA got a FG to take the lead again, 30-28 but AU converted on 4th & 11 with a 62 yard pass to Aromashodu which he actually fmbl¡¦d into the EZ. Teammate Courtney Taylor rec¡¦d the fumble which was then marked at the 3 and Auburn got a 20 yard FG for the win with :06 left...
Cal QB Joseph Ayoob struggled again hitting just 9 of 19 for 98 yards with 4 int¡¦s and the crowd cheered when Steve Levy replaced him in the 4Q and hit 4 of 4 for 34 yards leading a TD drive with 1:34 left. Cal¡¦s 6 TO¡¦s aided the Trojans in their 35-10 win...
Brady Quinn set a Notre Dame single season school passing mark with 2,931 yards and still has 3 games to play including the probable BCS bowl should they win their last 2 regular season games. Navy got zero pressure on Quinn who had all day to throw. Navy did lose their 2nd leading rusher Matt Hall to a sprained right knee on his first carry of the game...
Wake Forest finished its season vs. Miami, FL and put up a fight early leading 17-14 in the 2Q but UM used some big plays to blow it open despite not having WR/PR Hester who sat out. WF P Ryan Plackemeier avg 46 yards on 5 kicks and finishes as the NCAA¡¦s all-time leading P in terms of avg as WF is not bowl eligible...
Indiana surprised Michigan early with a 77 yard, 7 play drive for a TD and led 7-0 but the Wolverines piled up 41 points in the 1H, their highest scoring 1H since they had 45 vs. Indy in 2000. Michigan had 26-9 FD and 425-210 yard edges. Indy made the final respectable scoring the final TD of the game with 8:46 left. Both the Bucks and Wolverines won and covered and the winner of the Ohio St/Michigan game would win the Big 10 should Penn St slip up vs. Michigan St...
Nebraska became bowl eligible after missing the post season for the first time since 1968 last year. Kansas St lost its 5th straight and will not go to a bowl for a 2nd straight year. KSt trailed 24-12 but actually took the lead with 4:18 to play on a 27 yard FG. Husker QB Zac Taylor was inj¡¦d in the 4Q and backup Harrison Beck hit just 1 of 6 passes for 21 yards but led NU on its drive for the game winning FG. His one completion was a 21 yarder to the KSt 46 and a roughing the passer call moved it ahead to the 31. The 40 yard FG with 1:05 left gave the Huskers the lead and KSt had a 4th & 15 from their own 32 fall incomplete. Taylor broke David Humm¡¦s single season passing record which was set in 1972 while Allan Evridge of Kansas St had his roughest game of the season not completing a pass until 6:13 was left in the 3Q and finishing a horrible 5 of 27 for 77 yards¡K
Purdue¡¦s D which had been banged up and beaten throughout the year actually extended its shutout streak to 6Q¡¦s before giving up a FG in the 4Q with 7:23 left allowing the Illini to avoid a shutout loss...
Army got their first 3 game winning streak since 1996 and accomplished it vs. the #6 team in Div IAA ball. The Cadets did need a late TD with 3:12 left to pull out the 34-27 win but held UMass¡¦ solid offense to 11 FD¡¦s and 275 total yards...
Maryland¡¦s K Dan Ennis missed 2 FG¡¦s and an xp in regulation but nailed a 28 yarder in OT for the Terps win. UM was even more impressive than the score as they had a 524-424 yard edge and NC got a 25 yard int return for a TD to go up 27-17 in the 4Q. The Terps answered with 67 and 80 yard TD passes and NC got a 24 yard FG with :09 left to force OT...
One of the most underachieving teams in the country has been San Diego St and the Aztecs finally played up to their talent level as an underdog romping past Colorado St, 30-10, even though their shot at a bowl ended with the loss to TCU. They still can finish 6-6 this year. CSU¡¦s loss means they need to beat UNLV in the season finale to become bowl eligbile...
S Carolina got their first win over Florida since 1939 and ironically it was Steve Spurrier (Mr. Gator) who led the upset. SC was outgained 359-246 but seemed in control a good portion of the game...Oklahoma jumped out to a 21-0 lead vs. Texas A&M but actually had to hold on in the end to win by 6 as A&M settled for 34 & 27 yard FG¡¦s on their last two drives...
Washington finally played up to its potential with James Sims rushing for a career high 200 yards vs. Arizona and they delivered another Big Dog Play of the Week outright upset winner by a double digit dog in their 38-14 thrashing of the red-hot Wildcats...
UTEP set a school record with its 9th consecutive crowd of 40,000+ even though they faced just a 1-8 IAA foe in Texas Southern...TCU wrapped up its first conf title last Saturday but then simply dominated UNLV 51-3 with a 29-6 FD edge and should be an attractive team for bowls...
Rice ended the nation¡¦s longest losing streak at 14 games with a home win vs. Tulane which extended its losing streak to 6 playing in its 9th different stadium in 9 weeks in front of 9,162 in cavernous Rice Stadium.
NO LOOKAHEAD HERE
Ohio St/Michigan both took care of business even with their big game on deck next week. The Buckeyes scored at least 35 pts in 5 consecutive games for the first time since 1974 when they accomplished it in Woody Hayes¡¦ ¡§Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust¡¨ offense. OSU¡¦s D limited Brett Basanez, who came in averaging 316 ypg, to just 121 yards passing and held the Wildcats potent offense to just 7 points in an easy 48-7 win.
MISLEADING FINALS, FRONTDOOR AND BACKDOOR COVERS
Connecticut had 20-11 FD and 299-192 yard edges vs. Pitt but were shutout for the first time since 2001. Trailing 7-0 UC went on an 83 yard, 15 play drive but settled for a 26 yard FG which was not only blk¡¦d but returned 71 yards for a TD. UC made a 20 yard FG with :06 left in 1H but took the points off the board to go for from the 1 on the last play. Although replay appeared to show Brockington in the EZ, he was ruled down on the inch line. Pitt¡¦s other scores were on a 28 yard TD drive following a partially blk¡¦d punt and a 7 yard drive after an int for a 42 yard FG. UC was int¡¦d in the EZ and at the Pitt 15 on two of their last 3 drives. The big news for UC is that starting QB Matt Bonislawski returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games...
Colorado had a 23-15 FD edge vs. Iowa St and 363-287 yard edge. The difference in the game was not one but two 14 point turnarounds. Iowa St FS Paris raced 66 yards with a fmbl return for a TD late 3Q and then with CU driving for the tie, a screen pass was grabbed with one hand by DT Curvey and he rumbled 66 yards into the EZ for a TD and ISU won by 14...
Notre Dame led Navy 42-14 when the Middies drove 78 yards in 14 plays getting a 16 yard TD pass with 1:17 left for the backdoor cover...Utah had a 441-285 yard edge vs. New Mexico. NM trailed the game 27-19 when they got 2 key plays. A 50 yard TD pass late 3Q and then in the 4Q rec¡¦d a fumble which they ret¡¦d for a TD. NM clinched a bowl slot while Utah needs to beat a red-hot BYU team this week. Utah did get back WR Travis LaTendresse who missed 3 straight games and he had 9 rec¡¦s for 192 yards but the Utes could not overcome a 5-2 TO deficit...
E Michigan dominated Ball St in the 1H with a 350-68 yard edge and led 19-0. It was 25-7 in the 4Q but they collapsed and despite 26-15 FD and 493-237 yard edges they lost. They gave up a TD with :12 left and Ball St got the improbable 26-25 win.
INJURIES OF NOTE
Oregon St lost QB Matt Moore to a right knee injury in the 2Q and Ryan Gunderson hit just 11 of 26 for 156 yards in his place. Stanford continued its improbable march to a bowl game by notching its 5th win of the season. Trent Edwards threw a pair of TD passes but then suffered a thumb injury in the 3Q and TC Ostrander hit just 2 of 5 for 38 yards in his place....
Memphis decided to bench RB DeAngelo Williams to keep him healthy for CUSA action but still nearly knocked off the staggering Tennessee Volunteers. UT needed to call Rick Clausen off the bench and he threw 2 TD passes overcoming a Memphis 13-0 lead. UM even led 16-14 in the 4Q and had the ball at midfield on the final drive but came up short...
Laurence Maroney and WR Ellerson both sat out the Michigan St game but they still managed to beat the Spartans by 23 despite being outgained 457-450. Minny went 49 yards in 10 plays getting a TD with :12 left 1H to increase the margin and Mich St needs to beat #6 Penn St to become bowl eligible after being ranked in the Top 10 early in the year...
Charlie Whitehurst was questionable to doubtful to play but took a shot to numb his throwing shoulder and hit 21 of 32 for 269 yards and Clemson dominated Florida St with an 18-11 FD edge. FSU came in averaging 309 ypg passing and was held to 124 and Weatherford¡¦s two 3Q int¡¦s were the turning point of the game which was 14-14 at the half.
QUESTIONABLE COACHING CALLS
We¡¦ve pointed out the last few weeks that Guy Morriss inexplicably has gone with Terrence Parks at QB and it has basically cost Baylor a bowl slot this year. Versus Missouri, he left Parks in the game for almost the entire first 3Q¡¦s until BU was in an insurmountable 24-0 hole. Shawn Bell came off the bench and drove the Bears 73 yards in six plays for a TD, 49 yds in 9 plays for a 32 yd FG, 52 yds in the 3 plays for a TD to pull them within 24-16 and getting under the spread. Missouri went for it on 4th & 1 at its own 44 up by 8 and Smith got a 56 yd TD run. BU had a shot at the cover twice as Bell¡¦s 4th drive went 32 yds but was SOD on 4th & goal at the 10 and his 5th drive went 51 yds in 8 plays and had a 4th & 2 but their pass fell incomplete from the 4 with either TD giving them the cover.
BCS BREATHING EASIER
The BCS hasn¡¦t had too many years where everything worked out for it with the only true National Title game being in 2002 with 2 remaining undefeated teams in Ohio St and Miami, FL when they met in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas and USC both figure to run the table and be huge favorites in each of their remaining two games this year. UT does have the Big 12 Title Game and USC has to face 9‑1 UCLA and should either slip up, the BCS would have a major problem on its hands picking which 1-loss team got to play in the National Title Game....
Vince Young became Texas¡¦ career total offense leader and a probable Heisman frontrunner with another big game vs. an underrated Kansas D. UT piled up 647 yds as the Horns look to wrap up their first conf title since 1996 and go to the Rose Bowl for a 2nd straight year. Young has 8,269 total career yards breaking Major Applewhite¡¦s (1998-¡¦01) mark. KU did almost upset UT the year before with a questionable offensive pass interference going against the Jayhawks but the Horns left nothing to chance this year...
Alabama, the other last remaining unbeaten team, went down to LSU in the first ever Top 5 matchup at Bryant-Denny. Bama had played many of its biggest games in the previous years in Birmingham. LSU¡¦s K Jackson missed a 47 yd FG with 10:35 left and a 49 yd FG with 1:09 left and the game went to OT where LSU prevailed.
COACHES SWAN SONGS
What a job Barry Alvarez did at Wisconsin. The year prior to his hiring the team had 29,776 show up for their final home game. In Barry Alvarez¡¦s final home game, a Camp Randall record crowd of 83,184 was on hand and sellouts have become common place at home under him. Unfortunately, his UW team jumped out to a 10-0 lead and appeared to be able to send him out on a winning note but Iowa rallied and had a 390-276 yd edge in their 20-10 win...
Buffalo announced they would not bring back Jim Hofher and the team rallied around him vs. a banged up Kent St team getting their first conf win on the road since it joined the MAC in 1999, 10-6.
